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UD students win top prizes in ethics teaching contest

11:04 a.m., Nov. 19, 2004--Two University of Delaware students have won top prizes in a competition to develop problem-based learning units for use in teaching ethics. The competition was organized jointly by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, chapters at UD and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Erik S. Welf, a graduate student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Liang-I Kang, an undergraduate biology major, received the cash prizes in the graduate physical sciences and undergraduate life sciences categories, respectively, during a recent banquet, George Watson, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, said.

Kang, of Newark, whose undergraduate research adviser is Melinda Duncan, associate professor of biological sciences, created a learning unit, titled "Patent Issues: A look at the industrial-academic interface."

The competition, which was open to undergraduate, graduate and professional school students at both institutions, was designed to make students apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to ethical issues and increase their understanding of the problem-based teaching/learning technique, Watson said.